14 July 2016 | Herpreet Kaur Grewal Culture is “central” to the success of organisations and to the well-being of workforces, according to research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).   In its report ‘A duty to care?’ the CIPD considers extensive research from the HR profession into the understanding of organisational culture. Key questions about the purpose and value of culture, the measurement and reporting of cultural issues, and the impact and importance of workplace concepts such as employee well-being, engagement and performance are explored.   Peter Cheese, CIPD chief executive, said: “Culture is central to the success of organisations and to the well-being of our workforces, but it’s complex to understand and takes time to change and effort to sustain. Positive and healthy cultures are true to their stated values, give voice to people, engage them, and create the best environment for people to perform in, thereby creating value and competitive advantage.   “However, as recent corporate scandals have shown, when cultures turn toxic trust breaks down and performance, well-being and reputation suffer. This is why boards have a fundamental role in understanding the cultures of their organisation and how culture is changing or evolving, as well as leading from the top in the behaviours and values they demonstrate. They must also hold management to account to ensure that culture, values and behaviours align, and the decisions the organisation makes enables it perform financially, ethically and sustainably.”   The CIPD’s report explores the crucial role that boards play in setting the culture of the organisation and maintaining the standards for the business to operate against. Here a few of their top-level recommendations.   • Champion change from the top: The board must lead cultural change from the top and evidence its impact on the business. Appointments must be based on merit and quality and the board should be diverse and representative of the organisation and community in which the business operates.   • Empower the board’s committees: Empower the remuneration committee to challenge and act with integrity, independence and transparency.   • Develop leadership capability: Leadership capability should be built in line with cultural and behavioural values and leaders must role-model these attributes to the wider business   • Value alignment: Align core values at the very top of the organisation and apply a values lens to board decision processes, focusing on trust as an enabler of positive and productive cultures.   • Address reward: Ensure that reward decisions take cultural alignment into account, and align measures of performance and culture to address the issue of high pay in particular. • Invest in people capability: Invest in building HR and people management strategy and capability that focuses on leadership and management culture and embeds cultural values across all levels of the organisation. Source link

EXCLUSIVE: Ecotricity has rekindled its interest in the UK water market, saying it would look to bring “an eco-approach to water”. Ecotricity founder and chief executive Dale Vince Asked about the company’s plans for the market, chief executive Dale Vince told Utility Week: “We do have some ideas around how we could make that work actually. We think we could bring a sort of eco approach to the water market. I would say it is possible.” Although Vince declined to comment specifically on the company’s plans, he said they would include “great customer service”, as well as “some kind of eco outcome”. “We think there’s a way we can apply this to water which would be very interesting,” he said. From 1 April 2017 around 1.2 million businesses and public bodies in England will be able to choose their water supplier, an option only currently available to the largest users. It will link to the existing market in Scotland, which was created in 2008 as the world’s first non-domestic water market. Vince said entering the water market was “something that we’ve thought about from time to time for many years”. In 2014, a spokesperson for the company said it had shelved plans to enter the water market in order to focus on its existing energy business. The full interview with Dale Vince will be available to read in the issue of Friday 30 September The water market has experienced a surge of activity ahead of the onset of competition. So far, Portsmouth Water, Southern Water and Thames Water have announced plans to exit the market. Scottish retailer Castle Water will take on the business customers of Portsmouth and Thames, while Southern’s customers will be handed to Scottish incumbent supplier Business Stream. The total number of companies to have applied for licences since Ofwat opened the process now stands at 17. The regulator has predicted as many as 40 new applications in the coming year.  Scottish players Castle Water, Business Stream, Cobalt Water and Clear Business Water have all submitted applications to participate in the English market. As has water management firm Waterscan and commercial gas supplier subsidiary, Regent Water. English incumbents which have applied for licences are: Northumbrian Water Business – which has rebranded as Wave – Pennon Water Services, Anglian Water Business, Sutton and East Surrey Water Services, South Staffordshire Water Business, Water 2 Business, Kelda Retail – which has been incorporated into Kelda Group’s new retail arm Three Sixty, and newly rebranded Affinity for Business. South East Water Choice has applied for a sewerage licence only, in order to provide its existing customers with a combined water and sewerage bill. Severn Trent and United Utilities have also applied for their joint venture Water Plus, which was announced at the beginning of March. Chief executive Sue Amies-King told Utility Week that Water Plus would be “agile and innovative”, and bring in “fresh new ideas” from the new people being recruited. Small Scottish supplier Everflow told Utility Week it is considering buying into the English market when it opens and will be applying for a licence soon. Veolia UK has also said it wants to grow its retail activities in the market, but has not yet applied for a licence. New entrant Blue Business Water also told Utility Week it will apply for a licence before Ofwat’s deadline. Director Chris Clark stressed that it is keen to acquire the customer bases of companies looking to exit. Source link

29 March 2016 | Herpreet Kaur Grewal Building Information Modelling (BIM) is “becoming the norm”, according to an academic speaking at an event on information management in FM.   Simon Ashworth, lecturer at Zurich University of Applied Sciences & Liverpool John Moores University, told delegates at BSRIA’s Information Management in Facilities Management event that FM needed to get “on board” with BIM.   He said: “FM is facing a challenge of getting up to speed with BIM. We need to position ourselves to be able to realise its benefits otherwise we run the risk of falling into a ‘death valley of know-how’ in terms of the loss of valuable information and realising BIMs potential added value.”   He reiterated research that indicates 80 per cent of the whole-life cost of building or asset is fixed in the first 20 per cent of early design.   A BSRIA statement said the event showed that there was a consensus that there is uncertainty surrounding the benefits and outcomes of BIM.   Another speaker at the event, Bill Wright, head of energy solutions at the Electrical Contractors’ Association, gave a presentation reviewing the results of the ECA’s sector-wide survey held during August and September, reporting responses from contractors, consultants, main contractors and manufacturers.   The results showed that only 16 per cent respondents think they are ‘fully ready’ for BIM Level 2, while 60 per cent of respondents say BIM is ‘the future for project information’. Fifty-nine per cent agree that BIM is a tool that will help achieve useful change in construction, but 37 per cent say it should not apply to contracts below £100,000. Source link

©Roger Bamber/Alamy Activity in Britain’s construction sector last month was weaker than it has been for seven years, with housebuilding hit hardest. The Markit/CIPS survey of purchasing managers fell to 46 in June — the 50 mark separates an expansion in activity from contraction — markedly down from the 51.2 recorded in April. More On this topic IN UK Business & Economy Tim Moore, senior economist at Markit, said trading conditions were always going to be challenging in the run-up to the UK’s vote on EU membership because of uncertainty about the outcome. “However, the extent and speed of the downturn in the face of political and economic uncertainty is a clear warning flag for the wider post-Brexit economic outlook.” Markit said 80 per cent of the survey was conducted before the vote. Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, said it was an absolutely dire survey, adding that a contraction in the industry now looks inevitable. Housebuilding was the hardest hit sector, with activity falling at its fastest pace since 2012. The pain for housebuilders has intensified since the referendum. Share prices of big housebuilders such as Taylor Wimpey, Barratt and Persimmon have all dropped since the UK voted to leave the EU, as the market has responded to fears the economy will slow, hitting transaction volumes. Markit reported that civil engineering activity was stable but commercial building work had lost momentum. For big civil engineering projects, most of the work currently taking place relates to contracts signed a number of years ago. Mark Robinson, chief executive of built environment firm Scape Group, said it was essential that the government continued to push through big projects such as HS2 and the trans-Pennine rail project “to ensure a sustainable pipeline and to stimulate economic growth for years to come”. Noble Francis, economics director of the Construction Products Association, said his members were reporting that projects already started — particularly in big cities such as London, Birmingham and Manchester — were continuing. “But as smaller projects have been completed, the uncertainty before the referendum has had an impact on new contracts signed,” he said. A number of big commercial property deals have already fallen through in the aftermath of the result and Foxtons, the estate agency, has issued a profit warning. Policymakers fear businesses will delay spending decisions until there is a clarity on Britain’s future relationship with the EU. Bank of England governor Mark Carney signalled last week that the central bank is prepared to take action, such as cutting interest rates, to maintain confidence and growth. The BoE’s financial stability committee will report on Tuesday about what it intends to do to support the banking system. It wants to ensure that credit continues to flow to businesses and households and that the banking system remains stable. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016. You may share using our article tools. Please don’t cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. Source link